The Manager as Change Agent : Communication Channels, Timing of Information, and Attitude Change

Abstract

To the extent that attitudes influence behavior, the object of aligning organizational goals and individual behavior translates into a problem of alignment of attitudes. This article proposes a deductive model to analyze how the organizational context affects a top manager's ability to disseminate a given attitude through the organization. We consider two elements of organizational context: (1) the system of formal and informal communication channels that characterize an organization, and (2) the timing of information flows. More specifically, this article focuses on the situations where the top manager is a strong change agent, whose attitude does not change as a result of the interaction with other organization members. Our results suggest that the organizational structure, the timing of information flows, and the prevailing configuration of attitudes are all intervening variables when it comes to the selection of the best approach to organizational change.